I am taking a little breather from working in a book or making books. These little guys are called my "soul cards". However, this is the 2009 version of them! I have made many of these little guys over the years and have taught my students how to make a deck that is truly their own. Of all of the classes I have taken that my dear friend, Kelly Kilmer, has taught, this has been my favorite. The plan is for me to make a deck of 12, a sample deck. Next month, I am planning to have a few girlfriends over for art-making and lunch. They have been "itching" for me to teach a class. The soul cards will work since they are pretty fast to make. Tomorrow is beckoning ... week 4 of summer school and the last week the middle school kids will be attending Wilson High. I must say I have really LOVED having the little guys on campus. It has been SO long since I taught junior high! All said, those years I taught junior high were the best of my career.

One of my colleagues sent me this video. It is a video that was made for Amnesty International. I have been a member of Amnesty International for the last 25 years. I believe SO strongly in human rights for all; it is disturbing that SO many of us take our rights for granted. Amnesty International is such an important part of my life. In fact, you can find a link to this organization on my blog. Please take a minute to watch this video. It is very powerful in its simplicity, content, and message. In this time of cover-up's, finger-pointing, and the "blame game" that seems to dominant the news and political scene in Washington, this video is a potent reminder to all: torture is NEVER acceptable.

Some more pages from my latest book. I had a very lazy Saturday yesterday. I spent most of the day working in my book - I "popped" out 6 pages. "Ms. Busy Bee" has been quite busy this past week. Week 2 of summer school has gone by without any problems. I am hoping that these next 4 weeks will be just as quiet. Being around middle school students again, after a 15 year absence, has been quite interesting! Their influence seems to be coming through in the artwork I am currently creating! I am having a ball working with middle and high school students on the same campus and I am enjoying the graphics, cartoons, anime, and illustrations I am using for my new book.

Here are a few new pages I finished this week. We got through the 1st week of summer school without a glitch! And just as importantly, we had a great opening. This is the 1st time in my 24-year career that middle and high school students are taking classes on the same campus and it seems to be working. The students are very respectful of sharing the space with each other. Being principal is great and although it has been an exhausting week for me, it has been a lot of fun too. I want to maintain that same attitude for the entire summer. And hopefully, on another note, I will get a chance to work quickly through this book like I did the last 1.

Some more pages from the new book I am currently working in. Yesterday was the 1st day of summer school. So far, we have had a very smooth opening. I want to go the next 5 weeks feeling that everything has gone as well as possible! I have been trying to work on artwork several days a week. However, now that school is back in session, I am quickly feeling the pressure of the job of being principal - @ the end of the day, I am pretty much spent! Thank God for art!

A shot of the new journal I am currently working in. The top photo is a shot of the cover. Kelly gave me this journal a few years ago. I have been waiting to do something special with it. You can check out Kelly's blog and her "A Prompt a Day" right here: http://www.kellykilmer.blogspot.com/. Talk about inspiration! Kelly's art is fantastic!


These are the first 5 pages from my latest book. I get the feeling that this journal will have a theme to it just like my India book.

I think I am going to do something along the lines of a graphic novel - maybe anime. I am hoping to take an art class this summer, @ Pasadena City College (PCC), called "Creating Graphic Novels or Comics". Maybe this new book will be a start of something bigger and different with my art ...

I'm off to the Huntington Museum right now! Have a great Fourth of July weekend! Let us not ever forget why we celebrate this most important day.

I have been off for the last 3 days - it's sort of a mini-vacation for me. It will be the only vacation I get until Christmas break. I will be running the summer school program for 6 weeks. Anyway, today, Mike and I spent the day in San Juan Capistrano. We drove to San Juan Capistrano after starting our day @ my favorite breakfast place, Julienne's, in San Marino. I spent over 2 hours @ the mission. I snapped up so many photos, that my camera flashed "card full"! I haven't been to the mission in 5 years - the last time I was @ the mission, I went with my last graduating class and several teacher friends (in fact, some of my oldest and closest friends). We took the train to the mission. We celebrated another graduating class and my promotion to Assistant Principal. Yesterday, I started my 6th year as an administrator. Hard to believe how the time has flown.